


Sinking Whilst Swimming

by Socket



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 15:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6962599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socket/pseuds/Socket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He hasn't recovered enough to come into work but she's glad he can still annoy her over the phone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Timeline:** The Midterms

  


He hasn't recovered enough to come into work but she's glad that he can still annoy her over the phone; happy he's still breathing; so happy in fact that she can't stop buying him gifts. She likes picking things out and thinking 'Josh would like this'.

When she gives him the pyjamas they're alone in his apartment and he says. "You don't have to keep doing this you know."

She feels clumsy. "I know," she replies.

He opens the carefully wrapped present and smiles as he eyes the pyjamas. "Thanks," he says and leans forward and kisses her cheek.

She smiles awkwardly.

He offers her a beer and they sit on his couch and talk into the night about the midterms and just how stupid Lois Lane had to be not to notice that Clarke Kent and Superman were the same person.

"She had a degree in journalism!" Josh exclaims.

C.J nods. "I only wish the Press in my briefing room were that gullible, it'd make my life so much easier!"

He laughs and leans across the space dividing them to brush a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"I should be going," she says suddenly.

"Really?" he asks. "Have another beer – I wanna hear your views on the whole Mulder-Scully thing!"

She grinned. "Another night, compardre."

He gets to his feet slowly, she watches him with concern, he might be laughing and joking but he was still in pain.

"It's alright – I can see myself out," she assures him.

"Wouldn't hear of it!" he exclaims, walking ahead of her to his front door.

She pulls her coat on, saying. "This was fun."

He smiles. "Yeah, it was."

She puts her scarf on and flicks one end over her shoulder, it comes loose. As she reaches for it again, he beats her to it and gently drapes her scarf over her shoulder.

"Keep warm," he says and opens the door.

She moves to the doorway, suddenly feeling like a gangly teenager. "I'll drop by tomorrow?"

He nods. "That would be good."

They hesitate, unsure how to say goodnight. She rests a hand against his chest and then leans towards him, kissing his cheek. He moves his head slightly, capturing her lips with his.

The kiss is soft and as they draw apart she looks uncertain. "Um, I'll… see you tomorrow."

He nods. "Yeah, tomorrow." She steps into the passageway and he watches as she heads down the hall. Spontaneously, he pokes his head into the corridor and calls after her. "Hey – C.J." She turns around, looking strangely remote in the hallway. He panics. "Nothing…"

She continues down the corridor, he waits until she turns the corner and then closes his apartment door. He stands in his living room, he has nothing but time, nothing to do but think. He walks past his bookshelf and sees the CD of Schubert's 'Ave Maria' that she gave him last week and feels a strong compulsion to chase after her and ask her to stay.

They haven't said a word about that night. She impresses him with her silence but her lips were pressed to his and that's something. Something and nothing, and she thinks she gave in to Josh that night because it was easier to be defenceless after nearly losing him, because the excuses she's used to stay separate from him had suddenly seemed redundant.

Three months later Lyman walks into her office. "I have a theory," he declares.

She looks up from a large pile of paperwork. "Is it any good?"

"That's yet to be determined."

"Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this along the lines of your 'Emilio Estevez is Bartlet's love child' theory?"

"Oh come on - he's the spit of the President!"

"Josh!"

"No."

"Have you run it past Donna?"

"No," he says confidently.

"You know how I feel about your without-Donna theories."

"They stink?"

"Yes."

"Well this one's a humdinger!"

She tilts her head sideways. "Is that even a word?"

"Yeah – it's between 'humbug' and 'humdrum' in the dictionary."

And she thinks there are only a handful of people in the world who know that, so she says. "You know, Joshua – sometimes you're quite the freak!"

"C.J - "

"Alright – hit me with it!"

"I think you like me," and this is his way of talking about the kiss.

C.J. leans back in her chair, she flicks her pen erratically. "That's a dangerous theory – don't let that get around."

"You haven't denied it!" he points out, grinning.

"Because I was always told to humour psychiatric patients," she replies dryly.

He sits on her sofa. "C.J,"

"Get off my sofa."

"But - "

"Off!"

Josh stands. "So you're not overly thrilled with my theory?"

"Overly thrilled, Josh?"

"Okay, so it was a long shot – but you did buy me pyjama's C.J. In fact, you have bought the majority of the contents of my apartment 'cause I don't collect knick-knacks and now I can't move for knick-knacks, not that I don't appreciate the gesture – they're very nice knick-knacks, I'm just not naturally a knick-knack person. Of course, if you like them, I could learn to, I suppose."

"I'm glad you're alive, Josh, I really am."

He smiles.

"Otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this," she throws a biscuit at him. It hits his forehead and lands on the floor.

Josh looks at the biscuit. "I'm sensing resistance," he says, picking up the biscuit and biting into it.

Cregg laughs. "Josh, I love ya – now get out of my office before I throw the whole jar at you!"

Lyman grins. "I'm gonna tell Sam that you said you loved me!" He heads for the door.

"Hey!" C.J. calls out, standing up. "No you don't, sit your ass back down. Lets straighten this out if we can Mr. Arrogance extraordinaire!"

Josh sits back down and looks at the Press Secretary expectantly.

C.J. steps around her desk. "Firstly, we're friends – so that's awkward, secondly – I'm taller than you - "

"So?"

"It's a thing I have," she explains, self-consciously fiddling with her hair.

"C.J. you're gonna have to date the green giant if you want a man taller than you - "

She throws another biscuit at him.

"Okay, shutting up now."

She folds her arms, then balances on the edge of her desk and unfolds her arms. After a moment, she straightens up again and folds her arms. "Is this about the… uh, thing a while back?"

"The kiss?" he asks.

She clears her throat, noticeably embarrassed. "Yes, that would be the thing to which I was referring."

"Yes, 'the thing' that happened a while back and has happened several times before – admittedly after consuming a lot of alcohol or post life-threatening circumstances." He doesn't think he's winning her over, so he moves on. "Okay – here's some good reasons for us to get together." He stands and moves towards her. "Firstly, we're friends, so we already have all the foundation work laid out. Secondly, I am shorter than you – but I'm not the green giant, which I think works in my favour."

C.J. grins.

"Thirdly… when we kiss, it's like an inferno."

"Do you remember the Hudson fundraiser, when you grabbed me and pulled me into the cupboard under the stairs?"

He grins; he'd been watching her bare back in that Donna Karen dress all night. He couldn't resist and when they were under the stairs, he had pushed her against the wall and kissed her. "Isn't that the time you slapped me?" he asked, coming out of his reverie.

"Josh?"

"Yes?" he asks softly.

She leans forward; he rests his hands on her hips. "My liking you… maybe it's not such a far-fetched theory after all."

"Really?" he pauses, "C.J. – if I kiss you, will you slap me again?"

She shakes her head. He kisses her softly. They draw apart and she slaps his face. Josh pulls back in surprise.

"Sorry," she apologises. "Reflex!"

He looks uncertain; she cups his face and draws him into another kiss, then whispers. "We just need more practice, is all."

Josh grins and slides his hands up her back, pressing her closer to him.


	2. Taking Direction

**Timeline:** The Californian 47th'

  


She's at her desk as Lyman enters her office.

"So what are you doing for your birthday this year, C.J.?" he asks, sitting opposite her.

She looks up from the newspaper she's studying. "Carol and I were thinking of taking my blue mustang on a road trip this weekend. A kinda _Thelma & Louise_ thing. Except, you know, without the killing, stealing and driving off a cliff."

"It was the Grand Canon, wasn't it?" he nit-picks.

"Does it matter? It was very steep is the point - and they drove off it."

Josh nods. "Cliff or Canon, they weren't coming back from that trip without a severe increase of health and car insurance."

"They died, Josh."

"Yes, they did. I was just saying."

"Well, Carol is going to be Tonto to my Lone Ranger - Cassidy to my Butch," the Press Secretary stops for a moment and contemplates this.

"Hey – didn't Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also die in the end?" Josh inquires.

She ignores him and returns her attention to the newspaper.

He grins. "Okay – so – you, Carol, twenty-five memos and the open road, huh?"

"Funnily enough Joshua, I've gone off the idea," she looks pointedly at him.

"How about that?"

She leans back in her chair. "You wanna ruin Christmas for me too while you're on a roll?"

"Hey, that's Toby's job," he claims. "It's just… I had these concert tickets I thought you might like."

"You bought me concert tickets?"

"Yes."

"To what?"

"Ronny Jordan."

"You bought me concert tickets to Ronny Jordan?"

"It was a gesture… or a joke – I'm not sure which. Anyway – I bought tickets for you, me, Toby and Sam – if he can get away from California."

"Hey – if we drive to California - we could have like a _Bartlet For America_ Senior White House Staff reunion road trip."

Josh stares at her. "That's possibly the most convoluted sentence I've ever heard you say!"

"Hey – you bring out the convoluted side of me."

"I'm touched"

"Yes you are!"

"I can take them back, you know - get a refund," he jokes.

She smiles sweetly. "Thank you for the tickets Joshua, it was very thoughtful of you."

He grins. "You're welcome."

"It's much better than the present you got me last year."

"I didn't get you anything last year," he catches her raised eyebrows. "Oh," then hesitates before adding. "Actually, I did."

Cregg looks surprised. "You did?"

"Yeah, but it was expensive and over-the-top. I knew as soon as I wrapped it that I couldn't give it to you because then you'd know how I felt."

"Oh? Well I know now, so come on – fess up – what did you get me last year?"

Josh reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wrapped parcel. He puts it on her desktop. "Happy birthday Claudia Jean."

Unceremoniously she tears off the wrapping paper to reveal a jewellery box. Inside is a delicate compass necklace. She looks at Josh.

"To guide you through your darker days," he explains. "And so that you can always find your way to me."

"It's beautiful, Josh," she says, touched by the sentiment.

He stands and leans across her desk, kissing her gently. "So are you," he whispers.

C.J. takes the necklace from it's box and puts it on. "What do you think?"

Josh sits down. "I think what I'm thinking is R-rated!"

She holds his eye. "You know, when this thing began – we began, I didn't know if…"

"I know," he says.

"But I think it is…"

"So do I," he agrees.

Carol enters. "Hey boss – I got the map for Ohio, so we don't get lost again."

C.J. grins. "I'll never get lost again, I have a compass!"

Carol looks puzzled. "Okay," she says as she puts the map on Cregg's desk, turns and exits.

Josh stands up. "I have to get on with, you know, running the country – see you for dinner?"

C.J. grins wickedly. "Definitely, I think someone's in for an extra helping of desert tonight!"

He laughs and gives a small wave. "See you later," he says as he leaves her office.


End file.
